Join the Conversation

Opinion: Are Vermont votes for sale?

Justin Lindholm
Published 12:09 a.m. ET Nov. 6, 2016

A yard sign opposing an industrial wind project sits at the side of the road in Grafton. Voters in Grafton and Windham are going to cast ballots Nov. 8 on whether or not to go forward with a plan for 24 turbines in the two communities. Developer Iberdrola Renewables is offering residents of the two towns direct payments if the project is built.(Photo: Wilson Ring/AP)

Finally, after being a model of democracy in this nation for over two centuries, Vermont has decided to give democratic discipline the boot and allow something that no one has ever had the guts to try in this state before, until the large international corporation, Iberdrola, offered when they came to town with their deep financial pockets.

Iberdrola figured, instead of spending thousands of dollars on advertising to get their way in the small towns of Grafton and Windham, like what the Citizens United ruling allows, they could hit even harder with their bucks by instead paying thousands of dollars directly to each registered voter over a period of 20 years if the majority of voters approve what they want.

Vermonters thought this new corporate idea sounded too corrupt even by modern corporate standards, so Iberdrola decided to do virtually the same thing by simply replacing the words, “registered voter” with “ the words, “full time adult resident,” which sounds better. But Iberdrola hasn’t bothered to change their figured payout per person and per town, probably because they know that the results are virtually the same either way.

The Koch Brothers are no doubt going to be fascinated with Iberdrola’s super efficient way of getting the votes by buying them directly instead of using the old fashioned method of buying them indirectly through advertising. I’ll bet the Koch Brothers will also wonder if other states are as submissive as Vermont in allowing this practice.

Many of the politicians running for state office in Vermont haven’t weighed in on this new way of doing business in our state, maybe because they are OK with it. Perhaps in our newly jaded Green Mountain State, we should put a new slogan on our license plates and at our gateways that says, “Welcome to Vermont – Where Money Moves Mountains.”

Justin Lindholm lives in Mendon.

Read or Share this story: http://bfpne.ws/2f5ZmjK

From The USA TODAY NETWORK

These sites are part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Their content is produced independently from our newsrooms.